Mexico: Bear gatecrashes picnic leaving onlookers frozen

A picnic was interrupted when a hungry black bear approached a group of visitors, mounted their table and ate their food at Mexico's Chipinque Ecological Park in the state of Nuevo León.

Footage shows the animal devouring enchiladas and tacos just inches away from several people who sit frozen in place.

At one point the bear moves its head within touching distance of a woman who's covering a child's face.

After eating, it moves across the picnic table before jumping down.

The startling video was posted online and went viral, amassing over 10 million views on the social media platform TikTok.

The park's website warns visitors that encounters with black bears have increased in the Monterrey metropolitan area and have been seen prowling in parks, neighbourhoods and streets near the mountains increasing the risk to people and to the bears.

The park has also provided a list of recommendations online about what to do if a person encounters one of the animals. One of them is that visitors should "never try to photograph a bear up close".

In 2020 another video from the park went viral when a black bear was seen approaching a visitor and sniffing her hair.